'Ted' triumphs with $54 mil at weekend B.O.

July 01, 2012|Andrew Stewart | Variety

Stateside moviegoers were in an R-rated mood this weekend, with Universal's "Ted" estimating a stellar three-day $54.1 million and Warner Bros.' "Magic Mike" overperforming with $39 million. Overseas, families largely led the charge, thanks to Fox's early bow of "Ice Age: Continental Drift," which impressed with $78.1 million. The weekend's diverse slate kept Stateside totals even with last year, a tough bar to hit considering "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" debuted to $98 million. "Ted," which exceeded the most optimistic pre-weekend predictions by at least $10 million, scored the highest domestic opening for an original R-rated comedy, besting the $45 million debut for "The Hangover" in 2009. "Magic Mike," meanwhile, wasn't expected to gross much more than $20 million -- it made nearly that on opening day alone. Still, a steeper-than-expected drop for "Mike" on Saturday, down 41% (some bizzers were predicting a 25% drop at the high end), could signal troubling news for the pic's playability. Along with the weekend's top players, Lionsgate's Tyler Perry pic "Madea's Witness Protection" also overperformed, grossing an estimated $26.4 million, while Disney-Pixar's "Brave" held OK in its second frame, dropping 49% for an estimated three-day take of $34 million. "I was getting calls all weekend long from exhibitors excited about how theaters were hopping across the country," said Lionsgate distribution exec David Spitz. Struggling in its opening frame, however, DreamWorks' family dramedy "People Like Us" collected a paltry $4.3 million. Pic failed to find an audience -- likely hit by an overabundance of well-received product. Sony had reason to be enthusiastic this weekend: The studio launched "The Amazing Spider-Man" in 13 markets -- mostly throughout Asia, except China -- where the film grossed $50.2 million ahead of its Tuesday bow in the U.S. Sony also saw "Men in Black 3" become the franchise's highest-grossing installment, with $599.4 million so far worldwide. The original "MIB" grossed $589.4 million globally in 2007. At the specialty B.O., Fox Searchlight successfully bowed festival darling "Beasts of the Southern Wild" at four locations in New York and L.A. Pic bowed Wednesday for a five-day total of $220,447, averaging more than $55,000 per screen. Interestingly, the weekend's top-ranking R-rated duo marks a complete 180 from last weekend, when two PG-rated films -- "Brave" and "Madagascar 3" -- occupied the domestic B.O.'s top spots, respectively. And despite its restrictive rating, "Ted" managed to draw a significant under-30 turnout, at 48%. The film skewed male, though women made up a considerable 44% of the opening gross. "We had great talent who worked as hard as ever to get the message out about a fantastic movie that satisfies audiences looking for adult comedy," said U distribution prexy Nikki Rocco. "Our incredible marketing campaign managed to speak to a broad demographic, resulting in this record-breaker." Not surprising, "Magic Mike" scored an overwhelming 73% of its debut from women, with over-35 auds making up 57%.